We’re approaching the fall season very quickly, and that means it’s time for another dose of our eShop Selects!
While August may have been a quiet month for Nintendo first-party titles (save one little pink puffball who we’ll be getting to in a moment), our eShop wallets have been crying at just how many gems have snuck onto the online store. You’ve probably noticed our reviews page has been filling up pretty nicely — and that’s going to continue.
So, after a summer of fun, what are the best of the best from August? First, let’s talk about some games that are equally deserving of a mention.
Honourable Mentions:
You know that, when there are three 9/10 in the honourable mentions list, it’s been a good month. There are just too many excellent surprises that we can’t crown them all. Even Kirby isn’t immune to missing out on a podium position! Sorry Kirbs, at least you get to eat lots of cake and strawberries?
Publisher: Neos / Developer: Millennium Kitchen
It happened! We finally got a I Summer Vacation game in the West. And, better still, it’s really rather lovely. Shin-chan’s irreverent humour and quirky characters blend perfectly with Millennium Kitchen’s Boku no Natsuyasumi series, and the result of that is the cosy Shin chan: Me and the Professor on Summer Vacation -The Endless Seven-Day Journey-.
This game is gorgeous, with hand-painted scenery and beautiful anime-style visuals that perfectly capture the Shin-chan style. It’s as bizarre as it is charming, and given the ridiculous antics you can get up to, the chaotic kiddy imagination fits incredibly well with the more carefree gameplay. It’s like a true summer picnic in video game form.
Read our 8/10 review to find out more about why we love this game.
Publisher: Thunderful / Developer: Chuhai Labs
Golf-like no longer means “it’s like or similar to gold” — it means golfing roguelike thanks to Chuhai Labs’ fabulous Cursed to Golf. It may look cute and quirky, but make no mistake, this is one rough swing with a bunker full of surprises. We bet Zagreus thought about using golf to escape from the underworld in Hades.
Our favourite thing about this game is just how creative it is. The different course designs, the ball types, the traps and obstacles — there’s an endless gauntlet of possibilities waiting for your undead golfer. It’s so addictive that we wondered if we even wanted to escape.
If you haven’t yet teed off, or even if you have, find out why this one isn’t a bogey in our review.
Publisher: Return Digital / Developer: Massive Monster
We’ve banded around the phrase ‘evil Animal Crossing‘ when talking about Massive Monster’s Cult of the Lamb, but the combination of cuddly creatures, bloodlust, and occult worship means, well… this is ba-rilliant (sorry).
Another brilliant twist on the roguelike genre, part of your time will be spent plundering dungeons and killing evil gods, while the rest will be spent raising and looking after your cult so they can help with your bidding. Despite looking cute in a very strange way, it’s actually pretty stressful, and there are multiple ways your cult members can die. We may have chuckled a few times at the creativity on show here.
Have you joined the cult of Nintendo Life yet and embraced your evil jumbuck side? Regardless of whether you have or not, you should read our glowing review.
< Nintendo Life eShop Selects - July 2022
How we decide our eShop Selects top three: As we reach the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff vote on their favourite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released as a digital-only Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month, and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their review scores.
Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to sit right at the very top of that list; first choice gets 3 points, second choice gets 2 points, and third choice gets 1 point. These votes are then tallied to create a top three list, with the overall winner taking that month’s top prize.
